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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25396606">Projections of the Forgotten</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sethrine/pseuds/Sethrine'>Sethrine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tiger &amp; Bunny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Astral Projection, Dreams, Dreamsharing, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Team Dynamics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:07:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25396606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sethrine/pseuds/Sethrine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Racing against the clock, Barnaby must rely on the help of Kotetsu and the other Heroes in finding you, a woman who has been projecting herself into the partners' forced dreams.</p>
<p>Barnaby <i>knew</i> who you were...but he could not remember you, truly. Even so, something was terribly wrong, and he only had so much time until you became nothing more than a mere memory of a dream.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Female Reader x Barnaby "Bunny" Brooks Jr.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barnaby "Bunny" Brooks Jr./Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Projections of the Forgotten</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A T&amp;B reader-insert fic? In this day and age? It's more likely than you think.</p>
<p>Can't thank my friend, Kyarymell, enough for introducing me to this anime. I can't believe I missed out on it, back in the day!</p>
<p>Anyways, here's to hoping there's still some fans out there who will enjoy this indulgent little fic.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"Are you lost?"</em>
</p>
<p>Barnaby blinked his eyes open, unaware that he had even had them closed to begin with. He glanced up at the inky black sky overhead, not a trace of stars or the moon to be had, then began to look all around him. Confusion clouded his narrowed gaze as he took in his new surroundings of nicely trimmed trees and winding cobblestone paths, wood and iron benches illuminated softly by strategically placed lamp posts.</p>
<p>How had he ended up at a park, of all places? It wasn't a familiar place, at least not one he recognized in Sternbild. And it was so dark out...he was sure it had been midday only moments ago.</p>
<p>What had he been doing all afternoon, and why couldn’t he remember any of it?</p>
<p>"Hm?"</p>
<p>He turned around fully, eyes naturally falling on the only other individual that seemed to be within his proximity.</p>
<p>You seemed every bit engrossed in the dark void of sky hovering above the treetops, gazing intently at something that he could not see. It was a wonder he hadn’t seen you, at first, standing there beneath one of the lamp posts, the light acting as a sort of beacon in the almost unnatural darkness of the night.</p>
<p>Barnaby stepped closer.</p>
<p>"Excuse me-"</p>
<p>"Are you lost?"</p>
<p>He nearly startled at your voice, having stopped mid-step at the intense feeling of deja-vu that overcame him. That question...you had already asked that very question, just moments ago, yet he hadn't realized he had been spoken to. He wasn’t even sure he had realized you had spoken at all before that moment.</p>
<p>Barnaby still wasn't completely sure if you were truly talking to him, either, so focused you were on the sky.</p>
<p>"I believe I am, yes," he answered cautiously, taking a few more steps closer, but keeping a healthy distance between. "I'm almost embarrassed to admit I'm not entirely sure where <em> 'here' </em> is."</p>
<p>There was a pause in the conversation, allowing Barnaby to have yet another glance around the unfamiliar park, then a moment to better study you.</p>
<p>He was fairly certain he had never seen you before, your face and your voice not sparking any immediate familiarity in him. You seemed fairly normal, just from his first glances, but even so, Barnaby couldn't help but feel that something wasn't quite right. It was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, almost as if he were forgetting something.</p>
<p>You blinked, a lethargic movement that seemed rather odd, much too slow. Your eyes continued to linger overhead.</p>
<p>"This is an unnecessarily dangerous situation for someone like you to find themselves in. You walked into something you shouldn't have, I'm afraid."</p>
<p>Barnaby's breath hitched just slightly at your words, finding a challenge between the lines of what you were saying. It was almost comical how quickly the Hero in him was on alert, expecting the tables to turn on him at any moment.</p>
<p>The park remained unbothered, quiet, eerily so.</p>
<p>Barnaby retained tension in his shoulders, regardless.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, I don't think I understand what you're implying."</p>
<p>Your gaze finally left the sky and turned towards him, though it was then that  Barnaby noticed you weren't really <em> looking </em> at him, or anywhere in particular, for that matter. Eyes glazed over and almost dull, it was as if you were barely aware he was even in front of you at all.</p>
<p>"Let me escort you out of here," you spoke once more, though Barnaby was suddenly under the impression that you barely had any sense to what you were saying, "it's best not to linger in such a precarious environment."</p>
<p>He watched as you turned carefully, dazed steps beginning to lead you out of the light of the lamp post.</p>
<p>Impulsively, Barnaby all but dashed forward, reaching out and catching your wrist before you could completely slip into the darkness. It wasn't like him to be so brash, but something about the whole situation still wasn't sitting right in his mind. Allowing you to step away felt more dangerous than the impartial threat your words provided.</p>
<p>It felt as if letting you walk out of the light meant you would disappear, too, and he couldn't linger too long on the thought of why that was an issue without making his head spin.</p>
<p>His action caused another immediate sense of deja-vu, a small laps in memory hitting him so suddenly that it made his chest ache unpleasantly. He had done something like this before, perhaps not under the same pretenses, but he had definitely caught your wrist...and he was <em> sure </em> it was your wrist, the way the smooth, braided herringbone metal of your bracelet felt cool against his fingertips, creating a unique sensation nothing else had ever provided.</p>
<p>Barnaby <em> knew </em> who you were...but he could not remember you, truly.</p>
<p>The ache in his head and his chest was becoming insistent the longer he attempted to piece together just what exactly was happening.</p>
<p>You looked over your shoulder just as slowly as you had turned away from him, eyes unseeing for several long seconds. Then, as if the trance you were under suddenly lifted, you began to blink away the dullness in your stare, a light of warmth and confusion and <em> recognition </em> brightening your gaze.</p>
<p>A gasp parted your lips, and Barnaby tensed at the sound.</p>
<p>"Can...can you really-?"</p>
<p>
  <em><strong> "Hey, Bunny, come on...Barnaby, wake up!"</strong> </em>
</p>
<p>Startled, Barnaby bolted up from his prone position, immediately regretting the movement as pain bloomed across his forehead. He reached up instinctively and flinched at the sharper ache upon touching just above his eye.</p>
<p>"He's awake!"</p>
<p>"Goodness, Handsome, you had us nearly worried to death!"</p>
<p>"Here, for your head, <em> de gozaru. </em>"</p>
<p>Barnaby blinked a few times, still disoriented from having sat up so suddenly, and took the ice pack nearly shoved into his face with a dazed thanks before looking around him.</p>
<p>He was on the floor of the training facility, though looking at his clothes, he hadn't been there to work out as he first thought. He had...he had been looking for Kotetsu, if his memory served him right. There was a matter about some upcoming interview he needed to discuss with the older Hero, and he'd been directed to the training facility.</p>
<p>The other Heroes -his <em> friends </em>- were knelt alongside him in a loose semi-circle at the moment, their faces showing expressions of both relief and concern for his well-being. Before, they had all been doing their own exercises, or conversing amongst one another, some having taken just a moment to greet him as he passed by.</p>
<p>Just slightly further to his right, he could see Kotetsu in a similar situation as himself, on the floor and holding an ice pack to his head. He, at least, looked much more put together in his own impractical way, cross-legged and grinning almost nervously as Antonio and Karina both hovered over him, glowering, yet worried, much like the others.</p>
<p>He'd been meandering on the treadmill, Barnaby recalled, stopping almost immediately at having seen his approach and rushing over just as quickly as if his partner had been waiting for an opportunity for distraction.</p>
<p>Everything after that was hazy at best.</p>
<p>As if sensing his thoughts, Kotetsu turned and caught his eye, his partner's toothy smile brightening considerably and becoming more genuine.</p>
<p>"Hey, Bunny! Thought you'd never wake up, there for a minute."</p>
<p>Barnaby blinked slowly, perhaps almost comically so, at the nickname before his brows furrowed in confusion.</p>
<p>"What happened? Were we attacked?"</p>
<p>Kotetsu's grin dropped rather suddenly, a mirror image of Barnaby's own confusion showing on the older Hero's face. He watched as his partner lowered the ice pack, reaching up once more to scratch at the back of his head in deep thought.</p>
<p>"Eh...I don't know. You were talking about some interview thing, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up on the floor! Think I hit my head on something on the way down."</p>
<p>"You idiot," Karina piped in, arms crossed and lips pursed, "you knocked out Barnaby! Probably overworked yourself and just headbutted him right to the ground when you passed out."</p>
<p>That would definitely explain the ache in his head, Barnaby surmised, but even with Kotetsu's penchant for accidents and acting as if things were alright when they clearly weren't, they had been standing steadily in front of each other, and Kotetsu hadn't shown any signs of overexertion, only boredom.</p>
<p>"Actually," Keith spoke up, catching everyone's attention and calming a near-shouting match in the making, "I saw what happened. You were both talking, and suddenly just started swaying in place before collapsing. It was the strangest thing, and stranger, still!"</p>
<p>"It really was sudden," Pao-Lin agreed. “You had us all pretty worried, especially since we couldn’t wake you as quickly as Tiger.”</p>
<p>Barnaby reeled at the information, perplexed.</p>
<p>"Well, glad we had you guys to save our tails," Kotetsu said with a grin, seemingly trying to diffuse the fuss surrounding them both, as he often did. "I was having the weirdest dream, too, about a woman in some really dark park."</p>
<p>"Wow, what a way to be creepy, even in your own dreams," Antonio drawled, Kotetsu immediately bristling at the playful accusation.</p>
<p>"It wasn't like that!" Kotetsu shouted, frowning animatedly while crossing his arms in defense. "She was acting weird, kept saying ominous things and asking, ah…"</p>
<p>"Are you lost?"</p>
<p>The question slipped out of Barnaby's mouth before he could stop it, prompting a surprised and somewhat startled expression from Kotetsu. Barnaby was sure he looked roughly the same, a little wide-eyed and ruffled at whatever was happening.</p>
<p>“Yeah! How, uh...how did you know that?”</p>
<p>"Believe it or not, I had the same exact dream."</p>
<p>All eyes were suddenly on Barnaby, shocked gasps and murmurs ringing out amongst the Heroes as he continued on a heavier note.</p>
<p>"I...I think I know who she is, but I can't seem to remember."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you guys so much for reading! Let me know what you think!</p>
<p>As always, see ya in the next chapter!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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